The following ideas should help interested people to raise funds to attend the IDEC 2005 in Berlin.
Thanks to Dana Bennis and Isaac Graves who organised the IDEC 2003 in Albany, USA. They published the following list of fundraising ideas. Beware! The text is unchanged copied from the year 2003. The addresses and examples are connected to USA and not Berlin.
Please change them creatively - where applicable - to 2005 and Berlin, Germany!
Furthermore you should not contact the email addresses mentioned below.

The Prize Raffle

Prize raffles are great when it comes to fundraising, because unlike 50/50 raffles, you get to keep all the proceeds! The raffle is relatively simple to get together and is great for school-age children to sell by themselves.

The first step is getting prizes for the raffle. To do this, you need a phonebook, phone, and a well drawn out spiel.

Sample spiel:

Hello, my name is John Doe, and I am calling because a group of 15 of us from The School of Democracy in Downtown Vice City are planning a trip to an International Education Conference, that will be held in July, in The United States...
*(It is very important at this stage of the spiel to breath, and after every sentence wait for an acknowledgement of what you are saying from the recipient of the call - If there is no "ok" or "uh-huh" from the recipient go on with the spiel)
...I am calling, because due to the expensive ticket prices of airlines and the conference fees, we must raise all of the funds ourselves. As a small school, with limited funds, we decided that one fundraising idea would be a prize raffle. So, I am wondering whether or not you might be able to support us by donating a prize towards our raffle?

Because you will be asking local businesses to donate a prize towards the raffle, who ever is calling must be well informed of your group/school if any questions are asked about it, as well as the details of your trip, such as when you are leaving, what exactly it is for...

The most important part of the call is the presentation! - You must be awake, attentive, and diligent in your speaking. Never say "umm..." or "yeah". Have all of your information in front of you when you call, if you need to reference back to a sheet of paper...and have no sound in the backround.

As far as the raffle goes, you are looking for 2-3 larger prizes, such as a hotel stay, stereo, and free dinners...and be sure to collect as many prizes as possible, which will help when making the tickets (below).

I have always found it helpful to make your own tickets...here is a sample:

Prize Raffle Name:

Over 30 prizes! - Including: A weekend stay at *** hotel, a brand new stereo, and much, much, more!

To help support The School of Democracy attend the 2003 International Democratic Education Conference, to be held in Albany, NY, U.S.A. Prizes will be drawn Nov. 11th at The School of Democracy - 8 Elm St. Albany, NY, 12185

Phone Number:
E-mail:

All who ever buys the ticket to keep the prize raffle part...As far as pricing goes, I have found success making books of 12, selling them for $10us, and selling individual tickets for $1 a piece...obviously price them at round numbers whatever your currency may be...

By selling individual tickets to family, friends, and strangers on the street, you can make a decent profit, but by selling books of raffle tickets to local businesses for 2-3 months you can make a very good profit! - In the past by selling tickets this way, we have made as much as $1,200us.

Dinners

Dinners are the easiest way to get a lot of money quick. The only problem is that you cannot have them as often as other fundraisers, because your turnout will drop and they won't be worth the trouble. This is not always the case, but you do not want to hit up your community for money every week with a dinner, because they may then feel used just for their pocket books. My suggestion is that you have no more than one dinner a month at the same location, but as I said before these are just my experiences, and are not always the case.

How do you organize a dinner?

There are two common types of dinners. You have your easy-to-do cheap dinner, such as a Spaghetti Dinner, or Pizza Dinner, and you have the themed dinner that costs a bit more and takes a bit more effort on your part. Both will make you a profit and both are not that difficult to hold.

The first step of organizing any dinner is to find a date and time. You must be very aware of any holidays, and other possible events that may be held in the same time area in your local community. You must also do it so that families can make it with relative ease. I suggest Friday nights, because that is the day that I have found you can get the largest turnout. As far as time goes, you want to have it start early in the evening so that families can attend, and leave before the children fall sleep. For this reason I suggest starting it at 6:00. You can follow the dinner at 7:30 with some sort of auction, whether it be a cake auction, or what have you (this is described after dinners).

Now that you have the date and time down, what kind of dinner will yours be?

The Cheap Dinner

The cheap dinner does not mean the quality of the food, but it refers to the cost to purchase the food and put it on. Let's say we are to have a Spaghetti Dinner. Before you go and get supplies for the dinner, you must make an educated guess as to how many people might show up. If you have had fundraising events in the past you can use those figures, but if you haven't, I suggest locating another community group that has had dinners in the past, such as a church, synagogue, fire department etc... and ask for their figures as to how many showed up. Once you get these numbers, assume 10-15% more show up. You never want to run out of food. If you wind up with leftovers, you can use them as lunch at your school, give them to local food banks etc...

Ok, so you now have a date, time and you have an estimated number of people that are going to show up. So now you need food. Remember we're pretending this is a Spaghetti Dinner, so I suggest contacting your local grocery. When contacting a store of any kind for a donation, be sure to have what you are trying to do written down in the form of a letterhead.

Sample Letterhead:

The School of Democracy
8 Elm St. Albany, NY, 12185
(518)-753-0916

To whom it may concern:

Hello my name is John Carter, and this year my school, The School of Democracy, located in downtown Albany, is planning to go to South America for an Education Conference. The conference, IDEC (International Democratic Education Conference) is a conference where...

Also describe your school...

To attend we must raise $7,000, and one of our fundraising ideas was a dinner fundraiser. On the 6th of April, we are going to have a Spaghetti Dinner to help raise funds for our endeavor. So, in conclusion, we are asking that if you can donate any items or funds toward this dinner, it would be greatly appreciated.

List the items you need on the letterhead:

Spaghetti noodles (I've been told for ever 3 adults you need 1.5 lbs of noodles I suggest asking a cook - Seeing as my information on that may be wrong)

Sauce (Once again, I have no idea as to the amount - Ask a cook)

Grated cheese (You don't need that much - I would get a few containers, and then divide it in small containers on the tables)

Meatballs (Depending on the region your from - In the U.S. it would be expected that there would be meatballs at a Spaghetti Dinner)

Salad (I would go to a farmers market with the same letterhead and ask for the Items individually - Heads of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots...)

Salad Dressing (Grocery...you could always make your own)

And I would top it off with Garlic Bread...(Get large Italian loafs of bread or French bread...hard to tell the difference...based on the size of the loafs and the people attending will lead you to find the correct number of loafs to get...)

Adding fresh garlic, butter or margarine, oregano, parsley flakes, and any other spices that you can think of can make the garlic sauce you top it with.

If all else fails, and you can't get these items donated, purchase them, because as capitalism goes, you have to spend money to make money. If you wind up spending money, do not worry, you should make it back and make a sizable profit.

Location:

Where to have the dinner? - If you have a building that can hold 100 people or so in a dinner format, I would hold it there, unless you are in a remote location, which would make it a bit harder to get a large crowd, but not impossible with proper advertising...If you do not have a building that can hold that amount of people, I would contact your local community church, synagogue, fire-department etc... and ask if you could have it at their building...If you do not have the proper amount of tables and chairs I would contact them as well.

As far as the small things go:

Salt and peppershakers, table clothes, plates, cups, these are all things you can obtain by contacting various people for donations. I would most definitely, though, use paper plates and cups...you want as little clean up work to do as possible.

Serving and setting

This is very important - you want all tables to be well set and you want however you decide to serve it, whether it be buffet style or waiter style, you want everything to be clean - USE Plastic gloves when serving!!!

You need a cook...You need someone who knows how to cook for a large number of people...If no one in your community does, you could always just search for a How to cook for many people manual on the internet...

Lastly, and the most important part of this process, advertisement!!!

Do not title it Spaghetti Dinner - Title it Italian Dinner (Sounds much better)

You need to make sure everyone you have ever met, and some, knows of your dinner. Make a colorful, attractive flyer (does not mean it has to be in color though - just something that catches one's eye). Photo copy hundreds of them and distribute them! - If you have a mailing list at your school, use it. Make sure all of the parents at your school receive a copy of the flyer. Post them on trees, lampposts, and stores etc... throughout your community...put them on all doorsteps within a 2-3 block radius of the school or alternate location of the dinner...make a very large poster to put on the school entrance...send a chain letter E-mail to everyone you know...send out a press release to all local publications...I know I'm missing other ways to get the word out so fill in the blanks_________...

The more formal dinner

Everything is exactly the same, except the menu and presentation. For a menu, you can do a themed dinner, such as a Spanish dinner...serve Spanish food, plantains, rice & beans...the menu will have to come from you, as you or someone within the community will most likely be the chef...You can get the ingredients exactly the same way, but it will probably cost a bit more...the presentation: have people waiter...have the food away from site...very nice table settings...small arrangements in the middle of the table...candles...and slightly dimmed lighting...it will be a bit more extravagant than the spaghetti dinner, but by having a good title to the dinner, and include the menu on flyers, it should give you at least the same profit gain as would a cheap dinner..

Lastly, make sure everyone going on the trip is involved with all fundraisers...This will instill a sense of family within the group, as you will be traveling long distances with them...it is also nice to share the good feelings of the success of your dinner...it is something that the entire group can look back on...Oh, and if the dinner busts, and you make absolutely nothing, don't panic, there is always some reason for this... as I made one fatal mistake in organizing a dinner once, and that was planning it around a holiday...

Auctions

Auctions can be events in and of themselves if you include refreshments, but I have found the most success come when you ad them to another event such as dinners...there are two main types of auctions I have been apart of:

Property auctions and cake/pie auctions Property auctions are when you get artwork, crafts and other prizes donated and have a skilled auctioneer auction the items off...you can use the same method of getting items for the auction as you would use with the prize raffle...

Cake auctions are great for dinners...I even highly recommend having one at the end of your dinner...the week or two leading up to the dinner you should call around to all local bakeries using the same spiel for the prize raffle and ask for cakes and pies...also try to get as many community members as you can to bake items for the auction. Use a skilled auctioneer and price all food items by their looks and just what they are...such as a plain chocolate cake should start at $10, while a specialty cake from a baker should start at $15-$20...

For more info on how to run a property auction contact Jerry Mintz at jerryaero@aol.com

And for more info on a cake auction contact me, Isaac Graves at webmaster@idec2003.com

Magazine - Advertisements

A magazine is a wonderful fundraising tool! You not only make money, but also learn something in the process. That is why it is great for students make.

To start off, you need to find out the theme or general overtone of your magazine. This will help you in collecting articles and in selling ads. Once you have selected a theme or general overtone, you should outline all of the jobs there will be in making this magazine. Jobs include, selling advertisements, getting a printer, layout, cover layout, editing...and so on. The most efficient way to produce this magazine is to then delegate these jobs to everyone involved. Once you have delegated these jobs you can really focus and get things done efficiently.

The jobs:

Advertisements: This is where your profit comes from. The most success you will have in selling ads is to target small businesses. This, I have found, is the case because you have a better chance of actually speaking to someone with some decision making power. When asking for them to purchase an ad, you must have a good spiel. This is the one I often use:

Sample spiel:

Hello, may I please speak to the manager. Yes, Hello, my name is John Doe, and I am calling because a group of 15 of us from The School of Democracy in Downtown Vice City are planning a trip to an International Education Conference, that will be held in July, in The United States...

*(It is very important at this stage of the spiel to breath, and after every sentence wait for an acknowledgement of what you are saying from the recipient of the call - If there is no "ok" or "uh-huh" from the recipient go on with the spiel)

...I am calling, because due to the expensive ticket prices of airlines and the conference fees, we must raise all of the funds ourselves. As a small school, with limited funds, we decided that one fundraising idea would be to produce a magazine. So, I am wondering whether or not you might be able to support us by purchasing an ad in our magazine to help support us?

Because you will be asking local businesses to purchase an ad in your magazine, who ever is calling must be well informed of your group/school if any questions are asked about it, as well as the details of your trip, such as when you are leaving, what exactly it is for...

You will also need to have ad prices. In our past magazines we have sold ads for:

$15 for a business card - 1/8 of a 8 1/2 page. (we have recently raised this to $20)

$30 for a quarter page (1/4) ad

$50 for a half page (1/2) ad ALL PRICES ARE IN US CURRENCY

$100 for a full page (1/1) ad

The most important part of the call is the presentation! - You must be awake, attentive, and diligent in your speaking. Never say "umm..." or "yeah". Have all of your information in front of you when you call, if you need to reference back to a sheet of paper...and have no sound in the backround.

The rest of the ad process is scheduling times to pick the ads up and answering any questions they may have about the distribution of the magazine and run (number you will be printing)...

Getting a printer: This is one of the most important parts of the process. If you can get a printer to donate printing, it will save you upwards of hundreds of dollars. To achieve this you must be well informed of what you are asking for and have a proper spiel.

The spiel is the same as above, just substitute selling ads for would you be willing to donate the printing of our magazine. The information you will need to know is:

The number of magazines you would like, the number of pages in the magazine (they must be divisible by 4), what kind of paper you would like, would you like the cover or centerfold in color etc...In a perfect world you would get all of this, but if you do not be prepared to bargain. If they say they cannot donate all you have asked for, ask if they would be willing to donate just the printing (and you would get the paper)...

Layout / Cover layout: To layout the magazine, you will want to have it done in a professional program, such as adobe pagemaker. This will make it easier for the printer, and your selves. If you cannot locate such a program, you will have to ask the printer what programs they accept. The simplest magazine layout is two columns per page, and random pictures placed in the center of these articles. For more info contact me at: nomoretests@earthlink.net

The cover should be attractive, as it will be the most viewed part of your magazine on the back you may want to put a picture with a bio of your school.

Editing: is what it says. I suggest multiple editors.

You may also make a dollar or two off of selling your magazine. Come up with a reasonable price for your location in the world. We have sold our magazine between $3-$5.

For all other questions on fundraising: please contact me at: nomoretests@earthlink.net

Walks

This is something that I have not done, but have often considered doing.

A walk is something that takes only one day of somewhat difficult work. All that is involved is coming up with a decent amount of people willing to walk 10 miles or in others' cases 15 kilometers. You schedule a date that is good for everybody, preferably a Saturday, and ask for donations. These donations consist of finding people willing to give, say $1 a mile/km.. Then however many miles you walk, that is how mush money you will make. If you complete the 10-mile walk and you got 20 people giving an average of $1 per mile you make $200. For more information please contact me at: nomoretests@earthlink.net

Pay Pal

Pay Pal is an online service in which it provides you a safe and secure way of selling products online. They only take a miniscule percent of your sale. One month by using there service, we made over $300. For more information, visit their website at: www.paypal.com. The products you sell are really up to you. You can sell school papers or magazines, home-made items, books etc...really anything you can think of.

Foundations

There are many foundations out there willing to give money for educational purposes.

The tricky part is finding these foundations and writing a professional grant proposal. As far as finding the foundations, I suggest looking in the reference section of your local library, as there are many books that list foundations. I would also search online and contact your local government education department. As far as writing the grant, there are many pay services that can help you, but assuming you, like the rest of us, do not have that kind of money, you can contact the Alternative Education Resource Organization at: info@educationrevolution.org

Sponsors

Sponsors are not something that I am well versed in, but you can visit our sponsor page at: www.idec2003.com/sponsor_idec.htm or contact Dana Bennis at: dbennis@idec2003.com to find out more. What I do know, is that this is something that could get you a lot of money so, please, contact Dana Bennis.

Donations

Asking for donations can be one of the hardest things to do. It is also necessary.

Donations should be targeted at close family members, distant relatives, and good friends. At least half of us have that one rich relative and with any luck that relative will come through with a nice fat check.

The most successful requests are those done very personally, and from students. If you give the student only grammatical and spelling suggestions and really leave the request itself up to the student, you will get the most positive response.

Have the students send these open-nded requests (do not ask for a specific amount) filled with lots of information about your trip and how much they need to fundraise, to every family member and close friend they can think of.